IHS Towers and MTN Group strengthen strategic partnership

LONDON & JOHANNESBURG–(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)– Following the announcement last week that IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS) (“IHS Towers” or the “Company”) and MTN Group (JSE: MTN) had renewed and extended communications infrastructure deals in Nigeria, as well as completing the renewal of all contracts across IHS Towers-MTN markets recently, the companies said on Tuesday that with the commercial relationship now firmly established for the next decade, they will now work constructively to find a mutually agreeable resolution to governance issues previously raised.

On 7 August 2024, the companies announced the agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032. The contracts include new financial terms that provide what the parties believe to be a more sustainable split between local and foreign currency. With this, IHS Towers and MTN Group have now completed the renewal of approximately 26,000 MTN tenancies on IHS Towers infrastructure across six African markets – Nigeria, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia and South Africa.

MTN Group owns approximately 26% in IHS Towers, a stake which pre-dates the tower company’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.

Sam Darwish, Chairman & CEO, IHS Towers, said, “As our largest customer and longest serving partner, we are proud to have completed the renewal of all tenancies with MTN Group in our African markets. Today, we reinforce our strategic relationship and commit to increased operational stability, by securing our revenue streams into the next decade, and leveraging our shared innovation to deliver critical connectivity and support digital inclusion across the African continent. We are excited by the next phase of our commercial partnership and welcome the opportunity to work constructively for the benefit of the end user.”

MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said: “The renewal of the various contracts across our markets into the next decade put MTN operations in the respective markets onto a more sustainable footing. We remain focused on ensuring our networks are well invested, have high availability and have the headroom to meet the growing and structural demand for data going into the future. These renewals are key to those priorities. We look forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues now that commercial arrangements have been concluded.”

Building on their 20+ year relationship as commercial partners, both companies will leverage their shared operational excellence and engineering expertise to meet the end users’ increasingly sophisticated data demands. Together, IHS Towers and MTN Group have a track record of navigating complex operating environments and challenging macroeconomic conditions to deliver connectivity crucial to economic growth and digital inclusion.

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About IHS Towers:

 IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is solely focused on the emerging markets. The Company has over 40,000 towers across its 10 markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia. For more information, please email: communications@ihstowers.com or visit: www.ihstowers.com

About the MTN Group: 

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading digital operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code ‘MTN’. Our strategy is Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress. For more information, please contact: MTNGroup.PressOffice@mtn.com or visit www.mtn.com

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This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecast,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. You should read this press release and the documents that we reference in this press release with the understanding that our actual future results, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. Further information on such assumptions, risks and uncertainties is available in our filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by applicable law, we do not assume, and expressly disclaim, any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.

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*Source: AETOSWire

Contacts
Giles Bethule / Akash Lodh
FGS Global
Giles.Bethule@fgsglobal.com / Akash.Lodh@fgsglobal.com